


Life Force

by ALovelyLitwit



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Angst, M/M, Major Character Injury
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-05
Updated: 2016-07-05
Packaged: 2018-07-21 18:53:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7399561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ALovelyLitwit/pseuds/ALovelyLitwit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alec and Magnus have discovered a way to bring Valentine down, but facing thousands of demons alone maybe wasn't the smartest idea. Magnus gets hurt. Is there any way to save him? How far is Alec willing to go? Set somewhere in the near future of season one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Life Force

Alec was surrounded. Demons circled and he couldn’t see a way out. He was down to his last seraph blade; his bow and arrows long since lost. Every breath hurt thanks to several broken ribs. Blood ran down the side of his face and pooled at his collarbone where his shirt had been ripped by sharp claws narrowly missing skin. Straight ahead red eyes glowed and he knew that pulsing red was likely the last thing he’d ever see. He only hoped he’d given Magnus enough time to escape. Then everything – his life, his death – would be worth it.

He charged forward, pushing the blade through the demon’s heart and smiled his last smile as the creature incinerated into ash. He felt the ground shake beneath his feet as literally hundreds of demons moved towards him slow and steady and hungry. Slashing wildly, Alec tried to take as many of the hell creatures with him as he could. Tonight, he would not die alone or in vain. Because his family was safe - Izzy and Jace, Max and his parents. And Magnus. Always Magnus. Safe and sound forever and ever. A small price to pay.

And then, there it was. The bright light so often mythologized. Warm and white and welcoming. Alec felt the weight of it seep into his skin, felt his wounds healing until they’d completely disappeared. His breathing returned to normal and the light dimmed around him. He was surprised at how calm death had been - calm and quiet and soft. So easy and safe and lovely. But then his vision cleared and he was still standing in the middle of Prospect Park. The night air still smelled of grass and garbage and thousands of New Yorkers. That couldn’t be right.

Spinning around, he saw the ground covered in ash and demon ichor. Burn marks were scorched into the earth. He touched at his wounds but his hands came away clean. Someone or something - that light - had healed him. Not only that, it had killed every single one of the hundreds and hundreds - perhaps even thousands of demons summoned by Valentine. Alec began to panic. The only other person who’d been in that park with him was Magnus. And sure, Magnus was powerful - so powerful - but this much energy was too much for one warlock alone. His breath hitched and he screamed Magnus’s name. The only answer an angry owl.

Alec ran to the last place he remembered seeing Magnus before the battle had become too much and overwhelmed both of them. He recalled Magnus telling him they needed help. And Alec swears - knows without a shadow of a doubt - that he’d seen Magnus run towards the street. To get help. And so Alec had taken on the fight alone. To distract. To give Magnus time. Not to save _him_ \- not possible. But to escape. To escape and destroy Valentine. Because they’d learned how and that’s why the demons were upon them so quickly. If Magnus could just get to the Institute, the world would be saved and Valentine defeated. Alec’s life was so small compared to that.

That’s when he saw him. A body curled on the grass. Alec dropped to his knees and pressed two shaking fingers to the pulse in Magnus’s neck. The relief that flooded him when he felt the faint beat coursed through him like a drug. But it didn’t last long. His skin was too cold, too damp. His breathing was so shallow and his body so lifeless. Panic set in again as Alec pulled out his phone and called Catarina. She picked up, not even saying hello. Just told him she knew - could feel the loss - and was on her way. 

That word ‘loss’ undid him. He collapsed across Magnus’s chest, dug his fingers into his velvet coat, and sobbed. Through each wracking cry he begged every angel and every demon to let Magnus to live. This death was not worthy of 400 years. Alec’s life was not worthy. Why hadn’t Magnus realized that? Why had he done this? Alec’s begging turned to curses as he pounded at Magnus’s chest angrily, demanding answers. Tears burning his face where just moments before there’d been blood. The night was not allowed to end this way. 

Soon, he felt Catarina’s hand gently pull him back from Magnus. She gave him a quick, hard hug and then got to work over Magnus’s pale, motionless body. Alec watched as her red healing magic caressed Magnus in all the ways that Alec could not. The furrow in her brow deepened as she settled her hands over his chest. Her hands turned to fists and her magic began to pull at Magnus’s chest causing him to heave forward, again and again. He didn’t wake up. 

Catarina’s magic disappeared as she buried her head in her hands.

All Alec could manage was a whisper. ‘No.’

She looked at him then like she’d forgotten he was even there. Tears threatened to fall down her blue skin. ‘He’s not dead, Alec. But he’s not alive either. I can’t help him.’

Alec knelt beside her, demanding answers. ‘That doesn’t make any sense. You have to help him, Cat. Take my energy. Take my shitty life. Take whatever you need, just please save him.’

She sighed. ‘You don’t understand, Alec. No one can help him. He’s in warlock’s sleep. It’s like a coma but absolutely permanent. He used a lifeforce spell. Do you know what that is?’ 

Alec shook his head, but Catarina wasn’t paying him any attention. She grabbed Magnus’s hand and began to shake her head at him. ‘You stupid warlock.’

Clutching at her shoulder, Alec forced her to look at him. ‘Tell me, Cat. Explain. Now. We’ll figure this out.’

Cat breathed in deeply. ‘It’s exactly what it sounds like. He gave his lifeforce to kill all the demons and to heal you. All his magic, all his humanity, everything. And in doing so, he gave his life, immortality. No warlock has ever survived a lifeforce spell that I know of. Magnus is the first not to die immediately - at least in my lifetime. So strong. And stubborn and silly and frustrating and I goddamn loved him, Alec.’ Now the tears were free flowing and she was the one beating on Magnus’s chest.

Alec stood up. He felt oddly numb and a little bit frozen. ‘No. Absolutely not. Get Tessa. She’ll know what to do. She’ll know, Cat. I’m taking Magnus back to the Institute.’

‘Like hell you are.’ Catarina jumped to her feet, fire in her eyes. ‘If I’m going to the Spiral Labyrinth, he’s coming with me. Isn’t that what you want, Shadowhunter? There’s nothing and no one at your Institute who can help him.’

They stood there staring each other down in the moonlight. Both broken and miserable and heartbroken. ‘I love him too, Cat.’

And with that, her shoulders slumped and she pulled him into her arms. ‘I know, Alec. I’m so sorry. I just don’t want to lose my friend. Let me take him to Tessa and we’ll come to the Institute when we know something.’ She pulled away and looked him in the eyes. ‘But Alec, please don’t get your hopes up. It’s very likely we’ll be saying goodbye before the sun comes up.’ And then she and Magnus vanished.

Alec stood looking down at where Magnus’s body had been. The grass still flattened from his weight. If he were honest, all he wanted was to curl up in that space and try to hold on to whatever part of Magnus still rested there. But he couldn’t. He had work to do that superseded his emotions. Valentine had to be stopped. And thanks to Magnus, Alec knew how to destroy the man. Closing his eyes tightly in one last silent prayer, Alec turned and ran.

*****  
Magnus knew he was locked in his subconscious. It felt like a dream - like he was floating in a strange bubble that wouldn’t pop. No matter how hard he poked and prodded. He’d sensed Alec’s presence and then Catarina’s so he knew he was in trouble but couldn’t remember why. Honestly, he couldn’t remember anything. The last image that remained in his memory was the Chinese takeout growing cold on his dining room table as both he and Alec worked furiously on the spell to bring Valentine down. Scattered papers, half-opened books, and then...nothing. Just the cold, weightless feeling of being trapped in between. 

That wasn’t the scariest part, though. No, not at all.

The scariest part was that he could no longer feel his magic. It simply wasn’t there. And he was trying desperately not to panic at that particular realization. Instead, he was concentrating on Alexander. His hazel eyes, his ratty black t-shirt with the hole dangerously close to his nipple that Magnus enjoyed far more than he perhaps should, his messy hair, the feel of his presence and knowing that he was alive and safe despite whatever had happened. 

And then, finally, he felt magic surround him - hug him, whisper to him, pump through him almost like an attack. He grabbed at it desperately, but the warm energy wouldn’t respond to him no matter how hard he tried. Because it wasn’t his; it was Catarina’s. Her healing magic. He’d felt it a thousand times before. She was trying to fix him, save him, bring him back from whatever disastrous decision he’d made this time. Magnus could only hope he deserved it as he felt Cat’s energy draining to shockingly low levels. He wanted to shake her - tell her to stop. But before he’d had a chance to try, her magic disappeared.

It hadn’t worked. He was still lost.

 _Oh dear. Oh dear. Oh dear._ What had he done? Why couldn’t he remember? Why wasn’t he dead? Cat was the strongest healing warlock he’d ever known. If she couldn’t bring him back to the surface, what would happen to him? Would he be locked in his own subconscious for the rest of eternity? Would someone be kind enough to end this madness, to end his life? Someone other than Alexander, hopefully. Alexander. Alec. God, Magnus did not want to die.

But it was starting to feel like he didn’t have a choice. Or that he’d already made the choice, somehow.

Goddammit. 

_Goddammit._


End file.
